The creation of an ostomy (stoma) is the therapy for many sufferers of diseases or injury of the gastrointestinal or urinary tract. An ostomy is the rerouting of the tract through the abdominal wall to outside the patient's body. Once a stoma has been created, the patient must, frequently for the rest of his or her life, use a device worn on the body for capturing or containing the body waste. This has traditionally been done with a bag or pouch attached to the body with adhesive patches or constricting belts. However, the wearing of such a pouch can be an embarrassing a experience for many ostomates. A pouch may require significant changes in a person's public and personal activities.
A controlled evacuation appliance offers the potential for an ostomate to return to some form of normalcy. The appliance is used to block the stoma mouth, in order to retain the body waste temporarily inside the bowel. The appliance is deactivatable and/or removable manually when the ostomate desires to discharge the body waste from the stoma. A design feature which distinguishes a controlled evacuation appliance from a conventional ostomy pouch is the presence of a stoma seal, for blocking the stoma mouth. However, there are many practical and challenging difficulties associated with implementing a cost efficient, yet effective and comfortable stoma seal which has good customer acceptance. It is believed that this is one of the reasons why controlled evacuation appliances have hitherto not found widespread use.